Locations of South Magnetic Pole from direct observation and model prediction.[1]

The South Magnetic Pole is the wandering point on the Earth's Southern Hemisphere where the geomagnetic field lines are directed vertically upwards. It should not be confused with the South Geomagnetic Pole described later.

For historical reasons, the "end" of a freely hanging magnet that points (roughly) north is itself called the "north pole" of the magnet, and the other end, pointing south, is called the magnet's "south pole". Because opposite poles attract, the Earth's South Magnetic Pole is physically actually a magnetic north pole (see also North Magnetic Pole § Polarity).

The first calculation of the magnetic inclination to locate the magnetic South Pole was made on January 23, 1838 by the hydrographer Clément Adrien Vincendon-Dumoulin [fr], a member of the Dumont d'Urville expedition in Antarctica and Oceania on the corvettes "L'Astrolabe" and "Zélée" in 1837-1840, which discovered Adelie Land.

On 16 January 1909 three men (Douglas Mawson, Edgeworth David, and Alistair Mackay) from Sir Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition claimed to have found the South Magnetic Pole,[8] which was at that time located on land. [9]They planted a flagpole at the spot and claimed it for the British Empire. The three men began the expedition to the South Magnetic Pole in a motor car specially adapted for the cold conditions, but abandoned it when it proved useless on soft surfaces. They then walked a total of 1260 miles to reach the South Magnetic Pole while pulling sledges and supplies that weighed approximately 670 lbs. Walking on foot across the coldest place on earth was perilous, and the men faced many dangers such as falling in concealed snow crevasses and acquiring frostbite and snow-blindness. Fearing starvation, they strictly rationed their biscuits down to the crumbs, and hunted seals and penguins. However, there is now some doubt as to whether their location was correct.[10] The approximate position of the pole on 16 January 1909 was 72°15′S155°09′E﻿ / ﻿72.25°S 155.15°E﻿ / -72.25; 155.15.[11]

The Earth's geomagnetic field can be approximated by a tilted dipole (like a bar magnet) placed at the center of the Earth. The South Geomagnetic Pole is the point where the axis of this best-fitting tilted dipole intersects the Earth's surface in the southern hemisphere. As of 2005 it was calculated to be located at 79°44′S108°13′E﻿ / ﻿79.74°S 108.22°E﻿ / -79.74; 108.22,[13] near the Vostok Station. Because the field is not an exact dipole, the South Geomagnetic Pole does not coincide with the South Magnetic Pole. Furthermore, the South Geomagnetic Pole is wandering for the same reason its northern magnetic counterpart wanders.